Gold Slips Amid Mixed Dollar

3/28/2012 7:02 AM ET

The price of gold was moving lower Wednesday morning as the U.S. dollar was trading mixed versus a basket of currencies.

Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, lost $9.20 to $1,675.70 an ounce. Yesterday, gold futures pared early intraday gains to settle lower mostly on profit-taking as the U.S. dollar gained strength on some soft economic data from the U.S. While home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas dipped to a 10-year low in the month of January, a report from the Conference Board showed a modest pullback in consumer confidence in March.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 1,286.62 tons from 1,288.74 tons.

This morning, the U.S. dollar was lingering around its one-month low versus the euro and trading flat against sterling, the Swiss franc and the yen.

From the euro zone, economic contraction in the U.K. during the fourth quarter was worse than estimated initially, revised data released by the Office for National Statistics showed. Gross domestic product fell 0.3 percent from the third quarter, compared to the previously estimated 0.2 percent decline. Meanwhile, the third quarter GDP growth was revised up to 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent estimated previously. For the year 2011, GDP in volume terms increased 0.7 percent.

Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.

From the U.S., the Commerce Department is set to release its durable goods orders report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect a 2.9 percent increase in durable goods orders for February. Excluding transportation, orders may have risen 1.5 percent. In January, durable goods orders fell 3.7 percent month-over-month following three straight months of gains.